The Buffy Files
by HunterX14
Summary: BTVS/X-Files Crossover. Chapter 9 up. Mulder and Scully Visit Sunnydale. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Note: Buffy and any other characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer do not belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon, Fox and any other folks who have rights to them. Mulder, Scully and any others from The X-Files also do not belong to me. They belong to Chris Carter, Fox and any other folks who have rights to them. This is a work of fan fiction. Neither money, nor other compensation is being given to me, nor will I accept any money or compensation. This story is being written for the enjoyment of myself and other fans. This story is a crossover and can probably be considered AU as well.  
  
The night seemed extraordinarily long to the man as he sat in his car watching through a rain-spattered windshield for some sign of movement in the darkened alley. His sources had assured him that this was the part of town to go to if he wanted to catch a glimpse of what really went on after dark in Sunnydale. Of course, his sources had also assured him that there were creatures in Sunnydale that were not human. For Fox Mulder, that had been enough to get him out on this dreary night, as it had the previous four nights.  
  
Out of habit, he reached for a doughnut and took a bite. It was dry and crunchy, the last remnant of the dozen he bought the previous day. He washed it down with cold coffee that, from the bitter burnt flavor, had to have been the dregs of a near empty pot left too long on the burner.  
  
He shook his head. This was certainly no way to spend a vacation. Maybe he should have taken that cruise he'd told Scully he was taking. He shrugged mentally, thinking that he could easily go check the cemetery. His sources had also suggested he spend time there, but he'd thought they were kidding the way they said it. He set the cup of coffee back into the cup holder and then dropped the last bit of the doughnut back into the box.  
  
It was five-thirty in the morning and the sun would be up in about thirty minutes. He could leave now and get a good breakfast before going to the hotel to sleep. He reached out to turn the ignition key when movement caught his eye.  
  
A young couple was walking down the street. Odd, he thought, as he watched them approach the alley he'd been watching. The woman seemed a bit tipsy. The man, looking very pale, was scanning the street as though watching for danger. They seemed to be having some kind of conversation. Mulder rolled his window down a little so he could hear what was being said.  
  
"I want to go home," came the woman's voice through the light rain.  
  
"I'll take you home, but let's just stop here for a bit." The man was drawing her into the alley.  
  
"No! I want to go home now." She started to struggle and the man grabbed her by the upper arm and began to pull her into the alley.  
  
From the look of the guy's face, Mulder knew there was something wrong. He checked to be certain his holster was unsnapped and then unlocked his door. Before he could get out, more movement caught his eye.  
  
A young blond haired woman in a black jacket and blue jeans sauntered up to the alley entrance, placed her hands on her hips and glared at the man. "Hey, you, of the facial deformity type, didn't your mother ever tell you not to man-handle a woman? Why don't you apologize, let her go and maybe we can forget about all this and call it a day. It's getting late." She glanced up at the noticeably lightening sky. "What do you say?"  
  
"Go away girl, before you get hurt," the man snarled.  
  
"Okay, we'll do it your way." The girl advanced toward the man.  
  
Mulder got out of the car and drew his weapon, afraid the man was really going to hurt someone after being antagonized like that. Vaguely, he wondered why he hadn't noticed the man's obviously deformed face before. He could have sworn it was a handsome young man with the woman. A blur of motion brought him back to the present.  
  
The girl had launched into a sprint toward the man, who in turn, pushed the woman he was struggling with away from himself. The girl hit him with a flying kick that knocked him off his feet and sent him rolling for about fifteen feet. The girl landed lightly and was already advancing on him as he shook his head.  
  
"Who are you?" The man asked.  
  
"It's so nice to meet someone here who doesn't know who I am." The girl smiled, then continued. "As far as you're concerned, I'm the boogey man." She pulled something out of her jacket that looked like a sharpened piece of wood.  
  
The man bared his fangs and snarled at the girl. "Slayer."  
  
Mulder shook his head and looked again. The fangs were still there.  
  
Before Mulder could react, the man closed with the girl and they hit the cement in a whirling tangle of limbs. Both were raining blows on one another faster than anything Mulder had ever seen. Suddenly, the man stiffened and sat up, the sharpened piece of wood sticking from his chest.  
  
The man began to topple off the girl, and then exploded in a cloud of dust, leaving the piece of wood to clatter to the cement. The girl got up and brushed herself off, then retrieved the wood. "Mr. Pointy comes to the rescue once again and do I even get a thank-you? Nope." She looked back down the alley at back of the woman running away.  
  
"Are you all right?" Mulder finally managed to get the words out as the girl put the wood back into her coat and turned to walk away. "I saw that man and he.well, he's gone."  
  
"Sure I am. I'm just out for an early morning stroll to get the blood flowing and wake up for the day." She put on her best humor the adults who ask questions they should not ask smile. "It's getting late and I'd better get moving."  
  
"Wait a second miss. My name is Fox Mulder. I'm with the FBI. I want to know what just happened here."  
  
"Trust me, no you don't." She began walking away. "Nothing happened here. Nothing at all."  
  
"Hey, who are you?" He asked as she continued walking away.  
  
"Who am I?" She paused her walking for a moment. "I'm Buffy."  
  
As if that explained everything, she continued walking away and Fox Mulder watched her disappear around a corner as the sun came up and a new day started in Sunnydale. 


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder sat in his basement office poring over record after record. News clippings were printed and stacked as soon as he found them. It seemed awfully strange how many references there were to Sunnydale, almost as if it was a center of activity. Four hours later, he had printed hundreds of pages and decided he had enough evidence to drag Scully into it.  
  
Mulder picked up his cell phone and selected Scully's number from his list. The phone rang six times before it was answered.  
  
"Scully." The answering voice was almost overridden by what sounded like someone on a bullhorn saying "Ready on the left. Ready on the right. The firing line is ready. You may commence firing."  
  
"Scully, have you ever heard of a place called Sunnydale?" The sound of gunshots came through the phone causing Mulder to pull the phone away from his ear.  
  
"Mulder, I'm on the firing range. I can barely hear you." As if to emphasize her point, several agents opened up in a rapid-fire exercise.  
  
"I said Sunnydale. Have you ever heard of it?" He caught himself starting to yell into the phone.  
  
"Where is that?" The background noise went away suddenly as the sound of a heavy door shutting came across the line.  
  
"It's in California."  
  
"No. I haven't heard of it as far as I can recall. Is there something significant about it?"  
  
"Well, there might be. I think we should go there."  
  
"Don't tell me. You've found confirmed sightings of aliens or UFOs. Mulder, you know Skinner wouldn't be happy about us going after more aliens."  
  
"It's not aliens. At least I don't think it is." How could he tell her he'd what he'd seen? Probably best to just leave that part out for now, he decided.  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but something is going on there. You should see everything I've dug up on the town."  
  
"Okay, I'll come look at your data as soon as I have time, but I've got to qualify today." The sound of gunshots came across the line again before the connection was closed.  
  
Scully put down the last of the documentation Mulder had in hard copy and began tapping away at the keyboard of her laptop. After an hour, she stopped and leaned back in her chair.  
  
"There seems to be some evidence that you're right about something going on. Did you look back through the births and deaths in this town? The mortality rate is unusually high. The population has slowly, but steadily grown over the past century, but if you look at what happens to the populace, it seems strange that it's even possible. Also, I did a check on missing persons and there are way too many for a town that size. For some reason, nobody has ever picked up on that, at least not that I can see. You've really stumbled onto something fascinating here."  
  
Fascinating? Mulder pondered that for a moment. She'd spent an entire afternoon and part of a morning reading everything he'd shown her and digging up more information herself. How could Scully find that many deaths and disappearances fascinating? Then again, she did seem to enjoy performing autopsies.  
  
"So, when do we leave?"  
  
"Umm. Let's see." Mulder pulled his thoughts together, surprised she was so excited to go somewhere. "Why don't we fly out tonight? We can rent a car and drive on to Sunnydale and get a fresh start tomorrow. That'll give us time to pack a bag and get to the airport."  
  
The flight to Los Angeles and the drive to Sunnydale were event free  
  
The 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign was battered, as though it had been hit by a car or maybe several, but there it was, lit up by the headlights of the rental car, to give its version of a cheery hello to visitors. Scully wondered why the sign hadn't been replaced.  
  
"Mulder, did we just enter the Twilight Zone? If I look behind us and see a cornfield, ..." she let the sentence trail off.  
  
"Scully, was that humor? I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears."  
  
"How far is it to the hotel? I'm beat." She changed the subject.  
  
"It's just a few blocks up this way." He turned his head quickly to watch a young woman heading the other way down the street.  
  
"I know you can't help yourself, but could you be any more blatant about ogling her?"  
  
"You've got the wrong idea Scully. I know her. Sort of anyway, or at least I think I do."  
  
Shaking her head, Scully responded. "Mmmhmm, sure. Next you'll be telling me she's an alien."  
  
"No, I'm serious. Her name is Buffy."  
  
"And how do you know this?" Scully raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer.  
  
"Umm well, you remember that vacation I took? I sort of came here, instead of going on a cruise."  
  
"You what?" Her voice rose a bit and her face got that look that said there was no way she could believe what she was hearing.  
  
"Look, I took a vacation. I'm just not one for cruises and the like. This town interested me, so I came to check it out." He looked in the rearview mirror and the girl was gone. "She's gone." Why didn't he just turn around immediately?  
  
"Why are you so interested in her? She just looked like a schoolgirl out too late."  
  
"If we're going to learn anything here, she's likely to be a good source."  
  
"What makes you think so?"  
  
Mulder recapped his previous experience and what he'd seen the girl do.  
  
"So you just let her walk away after killing someone."  
  
"What was I supposed to do? Sweep up some dust and ask the local authorities to issue an arrest warrant based on my word? I'd have been laughed out of town." He turned into the hotel parking lot.  
  
"Funny, that never seemed to bother you before." Scully looked out the window as he tried to find a parking spot.  
  
A few minutes later, both of them were in their rooms, getting settled in.  
  
Scully heard Mulder's door shut and looked out the window in time to see him get in the car and drive away. He hadn't bothered to ask her if she wanted to join him for whatever it was he was going to do. She wondered at that briefly before chalking it up to typical Mulder behavior, then crawled back into bed and went to sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

Mulder sat in the shadow of a mausoleum, scanning the graveyard, hoping to see something that might give him a clue what was going on. He'd been waiting for nearly an hour when he heard a small noise behind him. He turned slowly and was only half surprised to see that it was Buffy, standing close enough to touch him. She had her head cocked to one side as though listening to something.  
  
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. You might get hurt."  
  
"Shhhh."  
  
Mulder noticed that she never looked down at him, that her eyes were scanning the graveyard for something. Two men came into view and Buffy stepped forward.  
  
"Oh, look, what do we have here? Dumb and dumber walking along without a care in the world."  
  
The two turned at the sound of her voice. Their faces seemed wrong somehow to Mulder. Warped, twisted, deformed? He wasn't sure which. One opened his mouth and exposed fangs.  
  
"Oooh, hasn't anyone ever told you about dental hygiene? Then again, I guess if you're dead, you probably don't care anyway."  
  
Dead? What was she talking about? They were walking around, not exactly a strong indication of being dead, unless . No. It couldn't be. Vampires in Sunnydale?  
  
"Looks like we got delivery instead of takeout." The second, one grinned, exposing his fangs as well.  
  
"You talk big, but somehow, I'm just not impressed."  
  
The first one, muscular and blond haired, charged at Buffy and the second, whip thin and bald, circled around to get behind her. She stepped into the charge of the first, then ducked and turned, using his momentum to propel him into the second, sending both to the ground.  
  
Before the two regained their feet, Buffy stood smirking at them. A wooden stake hung loosely in her right hand. "I know you're dead, but boy are you uncoordinated. C'mon let's see what you've got." She beckoned them with her left hand.  
  
Mulder saw the two separate and begin to circle her. He drew his weapon and stepped out from where he'd been hiding. "Alright, that's enough. Get on your knees, both of you." He indicated the ground with a downward flick of the barrel.  
  
"That's not gonna happen and that toy won't help you." The bald one said, taking a step toward him.  
  
"Sheesh, can't I ever have a normal night," Buffy complained as the big one rushed her. She stepped forward and caught the vampire with an uppercut that staggered him, and then knocked him to the ground with a spinning heel kick.  
  
She turned in time to see the other one run his tongue over his fangs once before charging the FBI agent. Two sharp cracks, followed by a third just a moment later sent the vampire to the ground with a soft thud. That one was at least momentarily stunned.  
  
The wind left her as the big vampire hit her from behind, taking her off her feet. She hit the ground and spluttered some grass out of her mouth. Driving her elbow up and back, she felt and heard it connect with the top of a skull. That was enough to give her room to roll out from under him. She was on her feet again, watching the vamp circle her when two more shots rang out and she heard the sound of a body hitting the ground again. Her eyes twitched toward the sound almost of their own volition and it was then the big one charged her again.  
  
She saw the movement and reacted, staking the vampire as it tried to grapple with her. It vanished in a cloud of dust, leaving her free to look for the other one.  
  
"Hey ugly, looks like it's just you and me now." She stood, hands on hips and blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.  
  
The vampire looked her way, then looked left and right, searching for his cohort. "What the.? Where.? Who are you?"  
  
"Oh, right, who am I? What, are you guys from out of town or something?"  
  
He glared at her for a moment, then took off running into the darkness without looking back.  
  
"Well, mister FBI agent, that was some mighty fancy shooting. I'd suggest you get out of here. Even in Sunnydale the police will be coming out when someone reports that they've heard gunshots." She turned to leave, then looked back to see him gathering up shell casings. "What are you doing?"  
  
"If the police come out and find shell casings, they will also find my fingerprints. How am I going to explain that I just shot a vampire five times?" He walked back and forth slowly, swinging his head back and forth. "Where is that last casing?"  
  
Buffy scanned the ground and saw a shiny piece of brass sticking out from under one of Mulder's shoes. "You're standing on it." She had to hide a bit of a grin as he picked it up and put it and the others into the left front pocket of his slacks. Sirens began to wail in the distance.  
  
"Thanks. I think you're right. It might be a good idea to leave now. I'm betting the police are going to be combing this area for hours."  
  
"I wouldn't bet on that. They'll come out and look alright, but to paraphrase a deceased and definitely not beloved former principal, 'the police in Sunnydale are deeply stupid.'"  
  
He turned toward the sirens that were still coming closer, but didn't seem to be approaching at breakneck speed. "I suppose you're right. Now, I'd really like to know, what brings you out here at this time of night?" He turned to face her and found himself staring at only the empty darkness. Rather than providing him answers, she'd left him with more questions.  
  
He glanced at his watch and stifled a yawn. It was nearly two in the morning. He drove back to the hotel, wondering if he'd actually learned anything or if the night had just been one more bit of mystery. As he pulled into the slot, he decided that his brain was too fuzzy to think about it, got out of the car and let himself into his room. He kicked off his shoes and hung up his clothes before crawling into bed. Maybe tomorrow would bring some enlightenment. 


	4. Chapter 4

A sharp rapping on the door brought Mulder out from under the blanket of sleep. He looked toward the door and noticed a brilliant sliver of sunlight coming through a gap in the hotel room curtains. He shook his head to help clear the cobwebs and sat up as the knocking continued.  
  
"Mulder, are you alive in there?" Scully's voice came during a lull in the knocking.  
  
"Yeah, just a minute. What time is it?" He shuffled toward the door, remembered to grab a pair of running shorts to put on, and then continued to the door.  
  
"It's nine-thirty," she said as the door opened. "Come on we need to get moving." She handed him a cup of coffee and a bag of donuts.  
  
"Thanks for the breakfast. I'll get ready and be out in a little bit." He closed the door.  
  
Scully stood there for a moment, staring at the closed door. Slowly, she turned to go back to her room. On a lark, she continued past it to the lobby and picked up the local paper. There was a brief note on the front page about shots being fired at the cemetery and that the story was continued on page twenty. She looked for page twenty as she walked back to her hotel room. It was the third to the last page.  
  
Several people reported having heard gunshots coming from or coming from near the Sunnydale cemetery. According to witnesses who heard the shots, there had been two quick shots, then a third not long after. There had been a pause of indeterminate length, then two more quick shots. There had been no actual eyewitnesses to the shooting. Police had not turned up any evidence that there had been shots fired. There seemed to be some trampled grass in the cemetery, but other than that there was no evidence anything had occurred.  
  
Scully frowned thoughtfully. The pattern of the sound of the shots reported reminded her an awful lot of the training she'd been through just the other day. Fire two shots to the chest and follow it with one to the head. If you fired more shots than that at someone, they were either wearing body armor, or you missed, which could happen in the heat of the moment when adrenalin was rushing. Two more quick shots might have been to finish the job or simply to make a point to someone. Still, there should be evidence somewhere.  
  
Mulder could see her through the open door. She was frowning as she read the paper. The frown while reading was pretty normal, but the open door wasn't. He stepped inside.  
  
"Hey, Scully, you shouldn't leave the door open." She jumped and dropped the paper. "You never know what might wander in." He grinned, as she turned crimson and then struggled to reorganize the paper.  
  
"You could have knocked."  
  
"Well, doesn't that defeat the purpose of walking through an already open door?"  
  
She decided to change the subject. "I think we should go to the cemetery to see if there is any evidence the police missed. The described sound pattern of shooting practically screams law enforcement or military training. You'd think someone would have noticed something else." She paused for a moment. "Oh, where'd you go last night? I heard you leave, but never heard you come back and I went to sleep some time past midnight."  
  
"I was checking out a lead." He saw her disbelieving expression and gave in. "Okay, I went where I thought I might run into Buffy."  
  
"Isn't she a bit young for your Mulder?" She arched an eyebrow.  
  
"It's not like that. I think she's always out late at night."  
  
"Oh, so she's that kind of girl." Scully had to work to keep a straight face, as it was Mulder's turn to turn red.  
  
"No, she seems to like to kill vampires." There, he'd said it. Now he looked at Scully speculatively.  
  
"You don't really expect me to believe that do you?"  
  
He sighed. "Like everything else that you doubt, you won't lend it any credence unless you see it with your own eyes. Even then, the scientist in you tries to debunk what you've seen and know to be true. Tonight we can get that proof for you I think."  
  
"Sounds great." She rolled her eyes. "How about we head to the cemetery now? Then maybe head over to the site of what was Sunnydale High?"  
  
The trip to the cemetery led to no clues at all. Even the grass that had supposedly shown some heavy traffic the night before had sprung up and left nothing to be discovered. There was no sign of any daylight investigation by the police. Apparently they'd already finished with anything they were going to do.  
  
"You'd think that if they really thought shots were fired that there would be some area cordoned off or at least someone out and about looking the place over."  
  
Remembering what Buffy had said, Mulder shrugged. "Maybe we should go look at the school. It's hard to believe the school blew up during the graduation ceremony. It's even harder to believe it was a gas main and that it was just coincidence. Also, have you seen how many are still missing from that day? The mayor, who was the keynote speaker, has not been found yet. Also, several students haven't been accounted for. Of course, there's been no call made to outside agencies for assistance in finding them. It's like they know there's no point in looking."  
  
"Let's stop by the hall of records. I'd like to pick up a copy of the blueprints of the high school. We should go to the library too and get printouts of the news articles that followed the destruction of the high school."  
  
Two hours later, after listening to the clerk from the hall of records tell several stories about the strange things that always happened in Sunnydale and passing a few twenty-dollar bills, they had not only the blueprints and the news articles, but also some freelance pictures that were taken the day of the explosion. The librarian had been quite disappointed that her pictures had not been purchased by the paper and thus were never published.  
  
Mulder read the accounts in the paper and looked at the pictures, then repeated the process. Scully did the same.  
  
"Scully, this doesn't exactly add up. If the gas main blew inside the building, then why do the pictures show several ambulances with doors open and casualties being picked up from near the street to be loaded into the ambulances?"  
  
"Let's take a look inside." Scully headed up to the front doors of the school, expecting them to be chained. They weren't. "Not very safe to leave a partially destroyed building unlocked so anyone could wander inside. Someone could get hurt."  
  
The school definitely showed signs of having been through quite a fire and one very large explosion. From what Mulder could determine, the blast must have originated in the library, which was odd, considering the building plans showed that there was no gas main running directly under the library.  
  
They continued their walk through and around what was left of the school, but it was clear that enough damage and enough cleanup had occurred that their knowledge didn't give them the ability to discern the actual cause or type of explosion, other than to hypothesize that it wasn't as advertised.  
  
"C'mon Scully, lets get out of here. We can grab an early dinner, catch a little sleep and then go out looking for the vampires that don't exist."  
  
"Okay, let's go." Vampires. Right. Still, dinner sounded good. "I can hardly wait for our outing." 


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy was ready to head out for patrol and Willow was trying to talk her out of going alone.  Again.

"Don't you want some company?  You know, sparkling conversation, witty jokes, screaming while things try to kill me?  That was sort of a joke.  Well, the screaming part.  Even if it might be true."

"Look Wil, I don't want to put you in danger.  I know you want to help and I appreciate it.  This is just something I need to do by myself."

"Ever since graduation and the whole Angel leaving thing, you've done every patrol by yourself.  It's not good for you Buffy."

"You don't understand.  I can't fight and always think about protecting you at the same time.  It just doesn't work.  Sooner or later I'll make a mistake.  I can't lose you or Xander.  I couldn't live with myself if I did."  She also couldn't go where she'd been going every night after patrol for months, either.

Willow looked crestfallen and maybe a little hurt.  "I don't want to keep you from being able slay, but I really think you should have company.  She tried to switch into resolved face, but Buffy wasn't having any of it.

"No.  I'm sorry, but I've got to go now."  She stepped around Willow and walked out the front door of her house.

The alarm woke Mulder.  It was nine-thirty.  He yawned, stretched and got up.  Blue jeans, a burgundy knit shirt, socks and running shoes were in a neat pile on the dresser.  He got dressed, added a leather belt and his sidearm in a high riding holster, used some mouthwash and headed out the door to make sure Scully was getting ready to go.

Scully opened the door before he could knock.  Her laptop was on the table, screen glowing and something was printing on her portable printer.

"Didn't you sleep?"

"No.  I realized that I had heard of Sunnydale before.  It was in a medical journal, but I wasn't sure which one.  I was looking for it all evening.  I found it and started printing the article just before came to get me."  The printer stopped and she collected the papers.  "Okay let's go."

Scully looked at her watch.  Eleven thirty-five.  They'd been at the cemetery for an hour and a half.  She took another bite of the raspberry filled doughnut, which was surprisingly good, and wondered how long it was going to be before Mulder gave in and decided it was time to get some sleep.  Knowing him, it might be daylight.  He could definitely be stubborn when he believed something.  She stifled a yawn.

"Coffee and doughnuts not enough to keep you awake?  It's still early.  I'm sure we'll see something.  I've got a feeling about it."

Scully blinked herself awake at the sound of Mulder's voice.  "Look, there she is.  It's Buffy."

Scully strained to focus her eyes and study the slender girl that was walking into the cemetery.  Blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, blue jeans, a form fitting t-shirt and a light jacket tied around her waist.  She seemed to be scanning the dark ahead of her, but was walking quickly, as if she wasn't worried about what she might see.

"You're right about one thing Mulder.  She likes cemeteries. Now I wish we'd gotten out of the car and waited in the cemetery so we could observe her.  Going to cemeteries isn't unusual, but going at this time is.  I'd really like to know what she's doing in there."

"We can try it tomorrow, maybe.  For now we'll just have to wait and see how long she stays."

Buffy sat on the grave marker and wondered if maybe she was too late to catch this one.  She'd made a couple of side trips before really going on patrol and that had put her more than an hour behind.  A rustling noise and a pushing up of the sod on the new grave told her that she'd gotten lucky and was in time.

A pair of hands, followed by a head covered in long dark hair pushed its way clear and then the shoulders emerged.  Hands stretched out to pull the rest of the vampire out of the ground.  This part always amazed Buffy.  It seemed almost like a kind of birth and usually she would let it get entirely out of the ground before killing it, but tonight she had other things on her mind.   She hopped down off the marker, catching the attention of the vampire.  She glared at Buffy and began to struggle to finish getting out of the grave.  Buffy staked her and gave a halfhearted smile as she turned to dust.

Buffy headed back toward the entrance to the cemetery, already thinking about her next destination.

"Hey there she is again."  Scully peered out the window.  It had only been ten minutes since the girl had entered the cemetery. "She's certainly making an effort to brush something off her clothes."

"She probably killed a vampire.  They turn to dust."

"Let's see where she's going now."

"We just have to hope she doesn't take any shortcuts or anything.  At this time of night, it's going to be hard enough to follow her and not get noticed."

They followed her from nearly a block back, with headlights off.  She stopped in front of a house and walked up onto the porch.  A moment later, she returned.  She was carrying things.  In the dark it was hard to tell exactly what it was, but Scully could have sworn it looked like flowers.

Buffy continued to walk, making a few turns here and there, almost like there were certain places she was avoiding, rather than taking a straight route to her destination.  Finally she stopped, staring at the front doors of a large building, the hospital.  Instead of going in the front, she headed to the side of the building.

"We're going to have to go on foot now."  Mulder pulled the car into an empty spot far out in the parking lot and they got out, heading for the side of the building where Buffy had gone.  They were just in time to see her go in the side door and to see a larger figure pull the door shut.  "Let's go to the front of the building.  I'm interested in seeing whom it is she's visiting at this time of night.  She was obviously expected or there's no way she'd have gotten let in the side door."

The front doors were locked and the desk where the night receptionist should have been was empty.  After a moment, a large man came into view and sat down at the desk.  He reached under the desk and a soft click sounded from the front doors.

Mulder and Scully walked into the hospital and the man actually looked surprised to see someone.

"I'm agent Mulder and this is agent Scully.  We're with the FBI."  Mulder placed his ID on the counter and Scully did the same.  "Why were the doors locked?"

"I had to go to the bathroom.  I didn't want anyone to sneak in while I was gone."

"Couldn't someone have relieved you while you did that, so you didn't need to lock the doors?"  Scully waited for a response.

"Maybe.  But with budget cuts like they've been, it's not easy to find someone who has time to do my job and theirs.  It's just easier all around if I lock the door and go, then unlock it when I return."

"So the front doors being locked didn't have anything to do with the young lady being let in the side door a few minutes ago?"

The man fidgeted a little.  "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The girl who was carrying what appeared to be flowers and something else.  Does that ring a bell?  We followed her here and watched her up until she was let in the side door."

"Look, she can't come during the regular visiting hours.  She has to work and she's the only one who ever visits the patient; she's in a coma, so I thought I'd help her out.  She doesn't like to come in the front because someone might see her and then she'd have to explain to her family and friends why she's out at this time, or so she told me."  He was obviously nervous now.  "Has she done something?"

"No, but we'd like to talk to her.  Can you tell us where she is?"  Scully had a strange look on her face as she asked.  It had been there since the man mentioned a patient being in a coma.

"Room 117."

"Thank you.  Oh, which way?"

They went down the hall to the right, as the man indicated and soon found the room.  They could hear a voice coming from inside.

"Patrol was boring, as usual.  I dusted one vamp.  Didn't even let her get out of the ground.  I was behind schedule for getting here.  I brought you some new flowers today, and I also got you a stuffed animal.  It's just a little bear, but something about it struck me as being right for you.  Here, let me tuck him in with you."

Mulder and Scully looked at one another.  Scully mouthed the words _sister or friend_?  Mulder shrugged.

"I think the others are starting to suspect I'm up to something.  They keep insisting that I let them patrol with me.  Tonight, it was Willow.  Of course I don't let them.  I keep telling them it's too dangerous and I don't want them to get hurt or killed.  Sooner or later they're going to figure out that I've been coming to see you.  I'm not sure they're going to take that very well.  Can't really blame them, what with the whole trying to kill them and all."

"I haven't been able to find a way to explain to them that you're the one responsible for helping me find the way to kill the mayor.  I know you didn't have to tell me what you did and that tells me what I need to know about you.  I know you wanted to be on our side.  We just didn't give you a chance.  So you did the next best thing.  You joined the enemy.  At least then you weren't treated like something less than you are.  I understand that.  I know the mayor treated you well, like a daughter maybe.  And when you don't have anyone, you take a hand where it's offered.  It just happens it was from the demon who wanted to have his ascension and eat the students at graduation."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other and shook their heads.

"I have a lot of time to think while I'm out on patrol and so I've been able to get around that.  At first, I was really angry.  I'm still not happy about it, but I understand and I understand that that's not really Faith; it's not who you are.  It was just a defense mechanism.  I think I knew it that morning when I got out of my hospital bed and found you in yours, right after the dream.  If it was really you, I'd have been dead for sure and probably the others too."

"Oh, did I mention that there's been an FBI agent around some lately?  I've met him a couple of times now, most recently at the cemetery.  He actually shot a vamp and then looked surprised when it got up."

Scully calmed herself in preparation to ask Mulder why he hadn't told her about the cemetery incident.  She turned to him, only to see him going through the door and into the room.

Buffy sat in a chair on the far side of the bed, facing the door.  She was holding the hand of the pale skinned, raven-haired young woman who was in the bed.  She didn't look surprised to see him.  "Oh look, it's mister FBI himself."

"It's not nice to follow people, or to eavesdrop."  She directed this at Mulder.  "If you're going to do it, you should at least try to not be so obvious.  You think I didn't notice your car at the cemetery?  And that I maybe didn't hear the engine and the tires on the street while you followed me?  Lights off, now that was a nice touch, but following me around all the twists and turns?  That confirmed you were following me and that it wasn't just coincidence.  And then there were the footsteps in the hall."  She paused a moment.  "Oh, where are my manners?  Faith, this is agent Fox Mulder of the FBI.  Agent Mulder, this is Faith.  She's very pleased to meet you."

Scully chose that moment to enter the room.  "I'm Dana Scully."

"I'm Buffy.  This is Faith.  I'm afraid she doesn't talk much."  She waited a moment and then continued.  "Why are you interrupting my visit?  I spend at least two hours with Faith every night and I'll be happy to continue this conversation with you all later, but this is Faith's time, not yours."

"Come on Mulder.  Let's go.  We can give her an hour and a half."

They walked to the car in silence.  Neither one was aware of the three sets of eyes that were watching them and the hospital.  Once they were inside with the doors closed, Scully started talking.

"You remember I mentioned that medical journal piece?  I'll give you three guesses who it might be about."

"The girl in the coma?"

"That's right.  The article was about her being in a coma for an extended period of time, but that she was not losing muscle tone.  Even with routine physical therapy, a person in a coma loses muscle mass and strength."  She tapped the small stack of papers she'd brought along.  "It's strange that they don't know her name.  She's listed as a Jane Doe on her chart.  Someone brought her to the hospital early on the morning of graduation day and as far as anyone knows, only the mayor knew who she was.  He told everyone that he would take care of any expenses related to her and apparently her bills are being paid."

"Okay, so nobody knows who she is, but Buffy is calling her Faith, which suggests that she knows her.  We also know that Faith supposedly tried to kill some people and that Buffy claims to have killed the mayor and that the mayor was really a demon.  Something doesn't add up here."  He sat in silence for a little while, only to be interrupted by a tapping on the window.  He turned to face the disturbance.

A slender redhead was peering in at him and started tapping on the window again.  She glanced to her left then back at him, then back to her left again.  Mulder rolled down the window.  

"Can I help you?"

"This is going to sound a bit crazy, but right now crazy's going to have to do.  I watched you follow Buffy tonight.  I followed her too.  But we weren't the only ones.  There are at least two others out here.  I really need to see Buffy to let her know."

"Mulder, I just saw movement near the side door."

"I'm going to make an assumption that these others are not friend of yours?"

"They are so not friends of ours.  They'd really like to get hold of us though."

"Let me guess.  Vampires?"

"How'd you know?"

"I've spent a little time in Sunnydale.  It's hard not to know."

"Mulder, there are no such things as…" she stopped in mid sentence.  "I see more movement by the side door and something just moved by the front too.  Wait a second, who are you?"  She suddenly realized they were listening to someone they didn't know at all.

"I'm Willow Rosenberg.  I'm a friend of Buffy and…" She was distracted by motion near the side of the hospital.  "Oh boy, gotta do something now."  She began to chant in what sounded like Latin and her hands began to glow faintly.  She pointed one hand toward the side of the hospital and the other toward the front.  Both lit up brightly, showing a dozen figures working their way along the building to the doors.


	6. Chapter 6

"Looks like I'm not going to miss all the fun after all."  
  
Three heads turned at the sound of the voice. A dark haired young man in garishly colored button down shirt and blue jeans stood near Willow with hands in his pockets.  
  
"Xander, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Hi to you too Wil." He looked toward the hospital. "I followed Buffy tonight. Obviously, I wasn't the only one. Tell me she's not doing what I think she's doing."  
  
"Xander I hope you brought weapons. We're about to have company." Four vamps were walking toward them.  
  
"I've got one stake. Anyone else armed?"  
  
"Armed, but not exactly dangerous to vampires. I'm agent Mulder and my partner is agent Scully. We're with the FBI."  
  
"Wow. I'm impressed Wil. That computer hacking has moved you to the big leagues!"  
  
"Hey! You have to bring that up now?"  
  
"Well, if the keyboard fits."  
  
"Do you two do this all the time?"  
  
"Do what?" Both responded at the same time and looked at Mulder with surprise.  
  
"This banter. Do you keep it up like this a lot?"  
  
"We find that cheerful and witty conversation makes for happy and successful slaying. That and it takes our minds off the impending death that's usually coming toward us." Xander shrugged.  
  
"You. Stop where you are and get on the ground." Scully's voice rang out crisp and clear in the night air. She stood next to the car and had her weapon trained on the group of vampires.  
  
"Ooh, we better do what the lady wants. She might shoot us." The vampire started to drop to his knees. "On second thought, I say we just have a snack instead." He stood back up and the other vampires snickered.  
  
"Do you have any pencils or other sharp wooden objects?" Willow's voice broke through to Mulder as he was sitting trying to decide what he should be doing.  
  
"No." He got out of the car and drew his weapon. "Scully, we won't be able to kill them, but we can knock them down. Chest shots slow them down a little bit. Headshots knock them down and seem to stun them, at least momentarily.  
  
"Great. Well, here goes nothing then." Willow began to chant again and fire shot from her hands, engulfing one of the vampires. The other three charged at them. Over the screams of the burning vampire, the sound of pounding on metal reached Willow's ears. "They're trying to break in the side door."  
  
Xander charged the vampire that was heading for Willow and they went down in a tangle of limbs. The vampire quickly got the upper hand, only to have Willow jump on its back and begin clawing at its eyes. When it released its grip on Xander, he staked it, then got the wind knocked out of him as Willow fell on him.  
  
Scully stood for a moment, mouth hanging open as she watched the burning vampire vanish in a cloud of ash, and then focused on the other approaching vampires.  
  
"I'll take the one on the left," said Mulder.  
  
Mulder and Scully put their vampires down with double taps to the head and then put them back down as they tried to get up. "Some help here guys?" Mulder didn't spare a glance, just called out hoping Xander or Willow would get the idea.  
  
Willow grabbed the stake from the still gasping Xander and moved to a point from which she could stake the vampire. As soon as Mulder knocked it down, she rushed in and finished it, then did the same to Scully's assailant.  
  
Xander got up, having regained his breath. "Wil, next time you fall on me, could you not put your knee right in my breadbasket?"  
  
"Hey, beggars can't be choosers."  
  
"It looks like the side door is holding, but the front doors may be a problem." Mulder pointed. The remaining two vamps from the six that were near the front door were visible in the lobby.  
  
"Buffy can take two. We'd better go after the ones on the side of the building. The car would probably be useful." Willow started to get into the back seat.  
  
"What about the people inside the hospital," Scully interjected.  
  
"We probably couldn't get to them in time to save anyone they run into, and if we don't stop the ones trying to get in the side door, things will be a lot worse. Besides, if this many vampires are in one place they're probably after something specific."  
  
"You think running them over will work?" Mulder looked skeptical.  
  
"Not necessarily, but if we get there in time the car can block access to the door."  
  
"Wil, you think you can burn anymore of them?" Xander looked worried.  
  
"I doubt it. If it becomes necessary, I'll try, but I'm pretty drained now."  
  
"Scully, are you okay," asked Mulder.  
  
"Ask me later." She still wore the stunned expression that had been there since she'd seen the vampire get up after taking two shots to the head. She absently dumped her magazine and replaced it with a fresh one.  
  
Mulder drove the car into the midst of the six vampires, pinning one between the left front fender and the brick wall. The side door was blocked now, but the driver side doors were also blocked. Scully and Xander piled out quickly and were followed by Mulder and Willow.  
  
Xander charged one of the vampires, only realizing he didn't have the stake as it began to grapple with him. Willow staked it from behind and was rewarded with a face full of dust.  
  
Mulder and Scully were knocking the vampires down as they did before. "Mulder, I don't think we have enough ammunition to keep this up long enough for them to get all of them."  
  
"Just keep them down Scully."  
  
Willow heard them and knew they were probably right. She tossed the stake to Xander and began to chant again. Flame shot out at two of the vamps, engulfing one, but the other was only lightly singed before the flame vanished and Willow collapsed.  
  
Xander staked a vamp that Scully had put down, and then hurried to the next. He heard a metal clank then another noise as a magazine hit the ground as he staked the vamp. He heard two quick shots and another clank.  
  
"Mulder, I'm out."  
  
"Me too." Mulder rushed the remaining vampire and found out just how strong they really were. He felt the world go all wrong as the punch knocked him off his feet and then he was struggling for breath as he got to his knees.  
  
Scully also rushed in and managed to land a few good punches when Xander grabbed it from behind. Mulder saw the stake slip from Xander's hand and bounce a few feet away from him. He picked up the stake and ran forward to stake the vampire. It disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving Mulder and Scully with a fit of coughing.  
  
"Wil, are you okay?" Xander was cradling Willow in his lap. "Talk to me Wil."  
  
Her eyes fluttered open and she started to sit up. "Mmm. Xander. Hi. I think. I need. a nap." A small smile crept across her face and she slumped back into his lap.  
  
Xander picked her up and put her in the back seat of the car.  
  
"So, what do we do with that one?" Mulder inclined his head toward the vampire that was still clawing at the hood of the car in an attempt to pull its legs free.  
  
"I'd say we let Buffy have a talk with him. Right now, he's going nowhere."  
  
Buffy had seen the flash of light through the windows of Faith's room and thought it might be lightning. The gunfire that followed told her that the assumption had probably been wrong. She was faced with a dilemma. Should she go help the FBI agents or stay with Faith? The decision was made for her as something began trying to break down the door she'd come in through. She had to stay to protect Faith. Faith moaned and grasped her hand tightly.  
  
"It's okay Faith. Everything's fine." The gunfire had stopped, but the pounding on the door continued. She heard the roar of a car engine, then the pounding stopped. The gunfire began again, but much closer to the building. She pulled the bear out from under the covers and tucked it under Faith's arm, then gently disengaged her hand. Faith's eyes were moving rapidly beneath her eyelids and she moaned again. She put her hand on Faith's forearm and said, "It's going to be okay." That seemed to calm her.  
  
The sound of the door opening drew her attention. "I thought I told you I'd see you after I got done here." She realized her mistake when she saw the vampire coming into the room.  
  
"That's very kind, but I think I'll see you here." It drove her back until she hit the window, shattering it.  
  
Buffy knocked the vampire back toward the door with a series of punches and kicks. She reached behind her back and pulled out a stake and started trading blows, looking for an opening. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door open and another vampire rush in, heading straight for Faith.  
  
"Faith! No!" She screamed and tried to disengage herself from the one she was fighting, but to no avail. He grabbed her and kept her from catching the second one as it lunged for Faith's throat. 


	7. Chapter 7

Faith's eyes snapped open and her right hand shot out, catching the vampire by the throat. She raised her left and saw the bear. "B? Stake?" She croaked out.  
  
Buffy punched her vamp again and then tossed the stake toward Faith. Faith dropped the bear, caught the stake without looking, and then drove it home while Buffy grabbed her spare and finished her opponent.  
  
"Faith, are you okay?"  
  
"I think so." She looked around the room. "You sure do know how to throw a welcome back party." She gave Buffy a brilliant smile. "I need some clothes." She wrinkled her nose. "And a bath."  
  
"I think they threw your clothes out, but I'm pretty sure I have some you can wear at home. Come on; let's get you out of here. I guess I should ask if you are able to walk. You've been in bed for months. I spent part of the time with you each night moving your arms and legs, trying to make sure you'd be able to use them when you woke up."  
  
"Good thing." Faith flashed the smile again, then swung her legs off the bed and set her feet on the floor. "Whoa that's cold." She stood up and wobbled a little. "Walking may be a bit of a trick."  
  
"Here, lean on me. We'll get you home." Buffy helped Faith out through the door and then headed for the side entrance.  
  
The door was obviously battered from the outside and couldn't be pushed open from the inside.  
  
"Looks like the front door is the only way out. If they didn't have bars on all the windows to prevent jumping, we'd just go out that way." Only in Sunnydale could they get away with bars on hospital windows that would prevent escape in case of emergency.  
  
When they reached the lobby, Buffy felt a pang of sadness. The nice deskman who'd always let her in the side door was dead, his throat ripped out. Fortunately for him, that would be the end. The two of them stumbled a little as they got outside and then Faith seemed to right herself.  
  
"That's better. The legs are remembering which way forward is. By the way, thanks for the bear." Faith held it out and looked at it. "It's the first time I've ever had a stuffed animal."  
  
"You're welcome. I just saw it and thought of you." Buffy hadn't even seen Faith pick it up. "I think I better give a yell and see if the FBI agents are still around." She felt Faith stiffen and try to pull away.  
  
"No. It's okay. They're not here for you and I wouldn't let them take you." She felt Faith relax a little bit, but not completely. "They'll give us a ride. It's a long walk home." They walked on a little further and then she shouted "agent Mulder? Are you out here? Agent Scully?"  
  
"We're around by the side entrance and in one piece for the most part."  
  
"I'll be there in a moment. I'm going to need a ride home. I've got Faith with me and she's a little unsteady on her feet."  
  
"That might be a problem."  
  
"Why is that?" Buffy stopped moving.  
  
"We have a vampire pinned between the car and the building. If I move it, the vampire will get loose. It's none to happy right now."  
  
They continued around the corner and nearly ran into Xander. He fixed them both with a look that caused Faith to stop and start back the other way.  
  
"No, Faith. It's okay. Xander, don't say a word, not a word. And if you're going to look at us like that, just look somewhere else."  
  
"But I." His eyes were pleading, but his face was a mask of revulsion.  
  
Buffy cut him off. "I said not a word. I mean it." She stared at him until he backed down and turned away. "I'll talk to you about this later, but not now."  
  
"Buffy, I don't want to cause problems for you with your friends."  
  
"Faith, you're not a problem. He doesn't know what I do. When he does, he'll see you in a very different light. Until then, cut him some slack and we'll work on the re-education process. Now, let's find you a seat in the car." She opened the back door and motioned Faith inside.  
  
"Umm. B? Red's sacked out in there."  
  
"Did you guys just run around picking up everyone I know? Is my mother going to pop up next? Or Giles?" She had a perplexed look on her face that caused Faith to let out a small laugh.  
  
"Who?" Mulder looked confused.  
  
"It's not funny!"  
  
"Actually it is, if you think about it. I mean. You obviously come here by yourself, only to find that the FBI, Xander and Willow are all here too. Not to mention you have Nosferatu over there," she jerked a thumb toward the vampire, "stuck between the car and the wall."  
  
"Xander, could you move Willow over so she can share the back seat with Faith?"  
  
Xander got in the back seat and moved Willow into a sitting position, made sure the driver side door was locked and then leaned her up against it. He peered back at Faith and saw her clutching the stuffed bear. That was very unlike Faith. It was also very unlike Faith to have not made some cutting comment by now. "The seat is now yours." He motioned Faith toward the car.  
  
"Thanks." She gave him a tentative smile and sat down.  
  
"Okay, so let me get this straight. There were three vampires. You all pinned one against the building and we dusted the other two?"  
  
"No, that's not right and what do you mean when you say 'we,'" Scully asked.  
  
"The first vamp into the room practically bowled me over. I was tangled up with him when the second came in. I couldn't get free and thought he had Faith when up shoots her arm, like a snake striking, and catches him by the throat. I tossed her a stake and she dusted him. Sleeping to slaying in under ten seconds." She flashed a smile at Faith. "Now what did you mean that that wasn't right? Were there more? Did they get away?"  
  
"I meant just that. It was not three vampires. Yes, there were more and no, they didn't get away. I counted a dozen of them when your friend Willow created her light show."  
  
"Oh, so that's what that was. Not lightning. So what happened to the rest?"  
  
"Willow burned one, Xander staked one and we knocked two down that Willow finished off with the stake. Two went inside and six were taking turns beating on the door. Willow burned up another and then passed out. Xander staked one more then we kept shooting the others to knock them down while Xander staked them until the last one when we ran out of ammunition. We all tangled with it and Mulder ended up staking it. That leaves this one."  
  
"Wow, you guys did some amazing work there. But this is bad. Vampires don't usually work together in numbers like this. They're not real big on the planning and organizing." She walked over closer to the vampire and asked him, "So, what were you all doing here? Couldn't you have caught me at a better place than this?"  
  
He laughed. "You weren't the target at all. We heard there was a slayer in a coma. We figured on taking her and keeping her alive, then feeding off her when we wanted to. Slayer blood. That alone could make us strong, but selling slayer blood could also make us rich and powerful. Granted, fourteen was a bit much for sharing. Two apparently got careless and didn't come back from going to get a midnight snack last night. I'm guessing they ran across you and had a little accident. They weren't very bright."  
  
"So you're trying to tell me you came up with this plan on your own and weren't working for someone else? I find that hard to believe, but I suppose it's possible. Obviously if you weren't expecting to find me, you didn't do much research." She turned and looked at Faith and held up her stake. "Do you want do it, or do you want me to?"  
  
"I'm up for it." She pulled out the stake she'd had since Buffy tossed it to her earlier and climbed out of the car, still holding the bear in her left hand.  
  
"I'm not even going to ask where you were keeping that inside a hospital gown." Xander smirked at Faith.  
  
Faith rolled her eyes at Xander, then flipped the stake up in the air, caught it, and threw it at the vampire, striking him point first and turning him to dust. "I've still got the touch." She smiled brightly, winked at the stunned FBI agents, and then retrieved the stake from where it had fallen on the hood of the car.  
  
Xander noticed the difference in the smile. It wasn't the halfhearted or forced smile he used to see. This one seemed genuine. He also noticed the weariness creep into her face as she sat down in the back seat and closed her eyes.  
  
Scully stood, mouth open again, unsure what to think or say. A young woman, who'd been in a coma, wakes up after months of being bedridden and can walk and still has the fine motor skill control to throw a pointed object into a target accurately and with enough force to penetrate it. She decided it just wasn't worth the ridicule she'd take for publishing the findings. Not to mention that there were any number of people out there who would seek Faith out in hopes of running untold numbers of tests on her. And, there were the ones who would rather just take her for studying against her will. "Mulder, I think we need to get out of here." Sirens began to wail in the distance.  
  
"That's not like you, Scully, wanting to leave the scene of a crime."  
  
"Trust me, it's for the best."  
  
"We still have brass to pick up. If we don't the police are sure to link it to us. How will we explain it?"  
  
Buffy spoke up. "I have an idea." She walked over to the car. "Wil, wake up. I need your help."  
  
Willow opened her eyes, saw Faith and jerked to the side, hitting her head on the window. "Ow, okay, not a nice way to wake up." She rubbed her head and made a face. "And what's she doing here?"  
  
"Hi to you to, Red." Faith gave her a little smile. "What, no welcome back hugs?"  
  
Willow just glared at Faith.  
  
"Wil, look at me? Faith is here with me, okay? Now concentrate on what I'm saying. I need you to try to do a spell, if you can. We need to find all the shell casings from the bullets that Mulder and Scully fired and we need to do it pretty quickly."  
  
"Oh, well, that's not so hard. It's kind of like a locator spell. If I don't have to actually make something or destroy something, I think I can probably do it. I just need an example of what I'm looking for."  
  
"Here, Mulder reached across Faith and handed a shell casing to Willow."  
  
"Okay, just give me a second here. If it works, you'll be able to see them all and collect them easily. If not." She shrugged. She concentrated on the item said a few words and then turned to Mulder. "Okay, here you go. Any moment now it's going to work or not work." She collapsed back against the seat again.  
  
"Hey, look, all sorts of little glowing spots all around." Xander eyed them, and then took off toward where they'd killed the first four vampires. "I'll get these out here."  
  
Mulder and Scully were already picking up the ones near them. Scully looked at her watch. "What is wrong with the police here? It's been twenty minutes since we started shooting and they still haven't shown up."  
  
"You can rest assured that the headline tomorrow will be something like 'Drug related attack on hospital,' but they'll leave off the fact that the nice guy on night shift was killed. It will probably be in the last paragraph, almost like a footnote."  
  
"I can't believe the police and the press would both be party to that."  
  
"It's what you get when you live on a Hellmouth. Lots of bad things happen and there's lots of ignorance and denial."  
  
"What would we tell them? We helped kill vampires? They'd call Skinner and we'd be hung out to dry." He looked around. "Okay, that's all from around here."  
  
Xander jogged back to them, pockets bulging. "I think we've got all of them."  
  
"Get in and we'll get out of here." Mulder slid across the front seat and started the car. "Scully, you and Xander get in the front and Buffy get in the back." He waited while everyone got situated.  
  
"Hey Faith, are you hungry?" Buffy gave her a knowing grin.  
  
"Oh yeah! Just like always." At the sound of the words, Xander shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Faith couldn't resist baiting him. "Don't worry Xander, I'm not going to jump you right here. Maybe when we get home, though." She giggled a little and Buffy joined her.  
  
Mulder wasn't sure what the laughter was about, but he waited for it to settle down. "All set?" He backed the car away from the hospital and turned it around, following a very subdued Xander's instruction as to how to get to Buffy's house.  
  
Mulder pulled away from the curb after the door closed and the kids were all inside Buffy's house. "Well Scully, do you believe in vampires now?"  
  
"I never thought I'd say this, but yes, Mulder, I do believe in vampires. It won't make a difference, though."  
  
"What do you mean? We've seen proof. We have to tell the world."  
  
"Mulder, I hate to say this, but it doesn't matter what I believe. It doesn't matter what we've seen." She shook her head. "If we tell people what we know, what do you think is going to happen to this town, those kids? We'd be sentencing them to become lab rats or worse. I think the only thing we can do is help with the cover-up that's obviously been going on for years."  
  
"Scully, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to show that the X- Files actually means something, that we're not just chasing imaginary fairies or little green men. Now you're talking about burying the truth." He stopped speaking and shook his head. "It bothers me that we've found tangible evidence that would be hard for anyone to refute and we can't use it. This could move us from laughing stock kooks who chase aliens to serious investigators who find proof of the unbelievable. It would assure funding of future projects. And now, the world can't know." He sounded dejected.  
  
"I think the place to start is at the hospital and we'd better start now. Don't look at me like that. If we don't, we're going to have to include ourselves as subjects under a microscope."  
  
"I suppose you're right." He hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. I can't believe I'm going to help hide the truth. He exhaled slowly. "How do we want to work this?" 


	8. Chapter 8

Scully thought for a moment, picked up the pages she'd printed, rolled them up and slapped them into an open palm a few times, then began to lay out her plan.  
  
"The girl in the hospital was an agent who'd been undercover for more than a year. She'd been unable to contact us, but had somehow confided in the mayor who contacted us for her. We knew the mayor had mysteriously vanished, so we waited this long to come for her in hopes that her cover had not been blown and we could pick her up quietly. Unfortunately we found that a group of hired thugs were attempting to get to the girl. Our team barely managed to get to the hospital in time to extract her, but couldn't save anyone who might have been killed inside." She paused for a moment.  
  
"Any crimes she might have committed were strictly to support her cover. The information and testimony she'll give will far outweigh anything she might have done. Any evidence they might have, including documents, pictures, fingerprints, or whatever has to be turned over to us. It will all be put into an incinerator. All computer records will need to be purged of any reference to her. Our own experts will verify that this has been done. Any and all charges that have been filed or are pending will need to be dropped immediately in the interest of the greater justice." She tapped a finger on the dash briefly.  
  
"I think we'd better call our friends of the computer persuasion. We'll need them to ensure that all records are wiped clean. Speaking of wiped clean, we need to remove any traces from that hospital room. Hair, skin, fingerprints, flowers, cards, medical charts, the hospital computer records, everything has to go."  
  
"Scully, you're starting to scare me. Remind me not to get on your bad side. I think you just might be able to make me disappear." He stopped the car in front of the hospital and was not terribly surprised to see only two police cars and the coroner's station wagon in front of the hospital. "Let's go make ourselves unpopular with the locals."  
  
By dawn, all evidence of what had happened at the hospital and any evidence regarding a young dark-haired woman, including hospital bed sheets and her missing clothes, which had been bagged and stored after she'd been brought to the hospital, had vanished into an incinerator that was conveniently located in the basement of the police station, not twenty feet from the evidence locker.  
  
The Lone Gunmen had laughed for more than a minute when they heard Scully ask them to 'make sure there was no evidence inadvertently left behind in the police computers or the electronic medical databases,' including the journal Scully had found the article in. Though they had laughed, the computer geniuses never questioned the reason for the action or the necessity of it happening right away. They couldn't resist a bit of fun though. Every computer attached to the police network in Sunnydale suddenly flashed up a message to drive home the point that all evidence was to remain gone forever. "We're watching you," was all it said, but the meaning was clear. The message stayed for thirty seconds and then vanished, leaving the computer displays in their previous state.  
  
**************  
  
***Author's note - I apologize for any errors, but I've had some difficulty getting things thoroughly proofread by others. This leaves me reading my own work. Unfortunately, I know what I wanted to say, even if I didn't say it and therefore tend to miss my errors.  
  
***Please review. I appreciate both pro and con, but please give constructive criticism if I've done something wrong. It will be taken into account and hopefully will help improve current and future writings. 


	9. Chapter 9

Mulder awoke and glanced at the clock

Mulder awoke and glanced at the clock. Four-thirty. The majority of the afternoon light was blocked by the blinds, but some escaped at the edge, creating a bright slash that traversed the wall from midway up down to the ugly brown carpet on the floor. He rubbed his face and lay there for a few minutes before deciding to get up and shower.

He stood in the shower, letting the hot water relax him as he thought about what had happened last night and this morning. If Willow and Xander hadn't shown up, he and Scully would probably not have survived. That thought sent a cold shiver through him that the hot water couldn't warm.

Scully, always the skeptic, had followed him blindly into a very bad situation. She was an FBI agent and a very capable one. She'd adapted quickly and they'd managed to survive. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd nearly managed to get her killed. What would he have told her mother? _'Sorry, she didn't believe in vampires and I wanted to prove they exist?'_ Yeah, that would've been great.

She wasn't just his partner though. She was his balance. She kept him grounded…and he could have lost her. Stupid! He pounded a fist on the tile in the shower, took a deep breath and opened his eyes, willing the unwelcome thoughts to go away.

The bathroom was filled with steam. How long had he been in there? He quickly shut off the water and dried off, wishing the vent fan would clear the steam more quickly so he could shave. He opened the bathroom door, walked over to the television and turned on CNN to listen to the news while he got dressed. Hopefully the mirror would be clear by the time he was done. It was.

He shaved and then decided to check to see if Scully had gotten around yet. He listened carefully and heard nothing from Scully's room.

Something woke Scully up. A sound like someone had knocked on the door or pounded on a wall.

"Mulder?"

She got no response, so she lay there listening. She thought she could hear water running. The sound stopped. Not long after that, she could hear the television droning in Mulder's room. He'd gotten up and around fairly early, all things considered.

They'd left the Sunnydale Police Station at a little after six. Instead of coming back to the hotel to sleep immediately, Mulder had talked her into going out for breakfast. Of course, that meant they had to get a paper to see what it said about the events at the hospital the night before.

She'd been rather surprised that there was almost no mention of it. Anywhere else, it would have been a front-page story. Here, it was relegated to page three and with no mention of any real facts. Simply a note about a break-in at the hospital and that the night desk clerk had been killed. No mention of any shooting or of Faith being gone from her room. The morning local news had also pretty much avoided the subject.

They'd finally gotten back to the hotel around nine and decided to get some much-needed rest.

She glanced at the clock. Five-fifteen. She yawned and stretched, sat up and threw back the covers. Her feet dangled just above the carpet for a moment as she looked from the television to the bathroom, trying to decide if she should turn on the news or just get cleaned up. Thoughts of a hot shower won out.

Fifteen minutes later, she was dressed and drying her hair. She heard someone knocking on her door.

"Scully, are you alive in there?" The voice was barely audible over the sound of the hair dryer.

"Just a moment." She put the hair dryer on the vanity and walked over to unlock the door. "I'll be just a couple more minutes." She walked back and picked up the dryer to finish up.

Mulder grabbed the remote and turned on the television before plopping down on the end of the bed. He channel-surfed until he found a local station. A news program was on.

_We're coming to you once again with footage from the ruin that was Sunnydale High. Months have passed, but there has been no real effort to clean up after the gas line explosion. You can see the shattered windows and crumbling walls. This is a bleak reminder of a terrible day. As of now, there are no plans to rebuild it. _

_But today, at least, there is a bright spot in this story. I learned today that a completely new high school will be built at a different location in the city. On condition of anonymity, a source told this reporter that the new school should be finished in about two years, possibly less. Community leaders would not comment on the length of time it would take to build a new school, but they were excited at the prospect of being able to educate our children in a modern school. _

_Still, for the families of the students who lost their lives on Graduation Day, this is obviously little solace. On a related subject, months after the explosion, neither Principal Snyder, nor Mayor Wilkins has been found._

_In other local news, there was a break-in at the Sunnydale Hospital. Apparently, a gang broke into the hospital late last night in hopes of securing pharmaceuticals to sell. A Sunnydale Police task force interrupted the attempted theft before the gang members were able to procure the drugs they sought. An extensive gun battle ensued, although no officers and none of the suspects suffered any injury. One hospital worker died during the break-in. At this time no official cause of death has been released, though we do know it was not shooting related._

Mulder shut off the television and then noticed Scully standing very close to him. She'd come up on him so silently that he hadn't noticed, or maybe, he thought, he was so comfortable with her presence that her proximity to him didn't set off any alarms. He looked up at her to find her studying him intently. For a moment, he couldn't help just gazing back at her. He gave himself a mental shake. "It's hard to believe, but Buffy was right. The news here really does seem to sweep the real details under the rug. It's like nothing out of the ordinary happened and they're just going on with their everyday normal lives."

The moment broken, Scully stepped back. "You're right. I didn't expect things to be this sanitized. I'm wondering if maybe we didn't even need to bother with the clean up process. Regardless, I think we need to find a place for Faith that is somewhere other than Sunnydale. Whoever may have been after her isn't likely to stop with just one attempt. If we can get her out of Sunnydale without being noticed, I think we have a good chance of relocating her safely."

"I think I have an idea how to do that, but we'll have to stop by and talk to Faith to see if she wants to go."

Mulder and Scully waited on the porch for someone to answer the door at the Summers' house. Mulder knocked again and gave Scully a questioning look. Just when Mulder was beginning to suspect that something bad might have happened, a yawning Buffy opened the door. She was wearing a long t-shirt that hung down past mid-thigh and her hair was tousled.

Buffy turned and walked back into the house, leaving the door open. She raised a hand to stifle another yawn, then sat down on the stairs and pulled her shirt down over her knees. She turned and hollered up the stairs, "Faith, we have company."

Mulder ushered Scully through the door and then closed it behind them. As they approached her, Buffy waved them toward some chairs, indicating that they should sit down.

Scully sat down and asked Buffy, "Aren't you worried about answering the door half-dressed and half-awake? It seems to me that might be dangerous in this town."

Before Buffy could answer, Faith's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Nah, all the really scary stuff comes out after dark…okay, well, most of the really scary stuff. Besides, even half asleep one of us could kick a lot of ass. And as to being half dressed, that could provide a useful distraction." She came down the stairs and sat next to Buffy; she was wearing blue jeans, lug soled boots and a white tank top. It was clear she'd recently bathed. Her face looked freshly scrubbed and her damp hair clung to the sides of her face and her neck.

Buffy chimed in. "Can we count Jehovah's witnesses as really scary? If we can, then they usually do come around pretty early in the day. Maybe if I wore fewer clothes, I could scare them."

Mulder wasn't sure where this conversation was headed, so he decided to give it a little direction. "Faith, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm five by…uh, I'm good. What brings you two around? I would have thought you'd have already cleared out of town. You're not here to arrest me, are you?"

"No, but we were thinking that this would be a good time to get you out of town." Mulder waited for a response. He got one from Buffy first.

"Faith, do you want to leave town? A Hellmouth can provide enough action for two Slayers just as easily as one."

"Well, B," she fell easily back into the old slang, but noticed and continued after a brief pause, "Buffy to tell you the truth, I think I'd be a distraction here. I know we're cool, but Red and X-man probably don't feel the same way and aren't likely to be too forgiving this soon. It might be better if I left for a while and gave them a chance to get their minds around the possibility that I could be one of the good guys too." She focused her attention on Mulder. "So, tell me what you have in mind for me."

Mulder did just that and Scully added a few details here and there.

"So, you two seriously think the government would want to hire me and that they'd give me a new identity? I think I could go for that."

"How are you going to get her out of town?" Buffy continued before Mulder could answer. "Someone probably saw her come here, and by someone I mean a vamp or demon or someone who works with them. They'll find a way to follow her."

"I think I have an idea how to deal with that. Your mother works with art and antiquities, right? Has she ever had anything delivered to the house?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Faith?"

"I was thinking that she might receive a rather large delivery she didn't order and then force the workmen to take it away. The crate would be empty to when it came in, but wouldn't be empty when it left the house. Once inside the delivery truck, we'll let Faith out of the crate and off we go."

"I think it sounds like a good plan. It's better if nobody knows when I leave or where I'm going. How soon can you arrange it?"

"I think we can get it all arranged by tomorrow." Mulder looked at Scully for confirmation and she nodded.

"So, Faith, are you up for patrolling tonight?"

"Oh yeah, the undead won't know what hit them."

Mulder pried the crate open to let Faith out. Her left eye was swollen nearly shut and she winced visibly as she struggled out of the crate and stood up. He was surprised by the obvious injuries she had acquired since early the previous evening.

"Faith, what exactly did the two of you do last night? Are you sure you're okay?"

"We did what slayers do. We killed the bad guys." She stretched and rubbed at a sore shoulder. "I am so hungry and…umm never mind I'm really hungry."


End file.
